UK:Britain behind Assange bail appeal:reports

It was British authorities, not Swedish prosecutors, who opposed bail for WikiLeaks founder
Julian Assange
, according to news reports.

Assange is due back in a London court on Thursday to fight for bail, after a judge's decision to free him was challenged on Tuesday.

It had been widely thought Swedish prosecutors had made the decision to oppose bail, with Britain's Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) acting merely as its representative.

But on Wednesday, the Swedish prosecutor's office told The Guardian newspaper it had "not got a view at all on bail" and that Britain had made the decision to oppose bail.

A London judge is scheduled on Thursday to hear arguments by British prosecutors seeking to overturn the ruling that Assange can be released on bail while he fights a Swedish extradition request, Bloomberg news agency reported on its website.

Lawyers for Assange reacted to the news with shock and said CPS officials had told them this week it was Sweden which had asked them to ensure he was kept in prison.

"The question is why did they (CPS) make this decision if they said yesterday that they were acting on behalf of the Swedish authorities," Mark Stephens, Assange's lawyer, told Bloomberg News on Wednesday.

"Its fair to say that this is all a bit fishy. The whole case really reeks," Stephens said.

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Karin Rosander, director of communications for Sweden's prosecutor's office, told the Guardian: "The decision was made by the British prosecutor.

"I got it confirmed by the CPS this morning that the decision to appeal the granting of bail was entirely a matter for the CPS.

"The Swedish prosecutors are not entitled to make decisions within Britain.

"It is entirely up to the British authorities to handle it."

As a result, she said, Sweden will not be submitting any new evidence or arguments to the high court hearing on Thursday morning.

"The Swedish authorities are not involved in these proceedings. We have not got a view at all on bail."

After the Swedish statement was put to the CPS, it confirmed that all decisions concerning the opposing of bail being granted to Assange had been taken by its lawyers, the Guardian reported.

The CPS said: "In all extradition cases, decisions on bail issues are always taken by the domestic prosecuting authority. It would not be practical for prosecutors in a foreign jurisdiction to make such decisions."

Assange has been in prison since his surrender a week ago to British police over a Swedish sex-crimes warrant.

He denies any wrongdoing and has so far refused to voluntarily surrender to Sweden's request to extradite him for questioning.

Supporters of the 39-year-old Australian say the charges are trumped up and possibly politically motivated.

Britain's CPS will go to the high court on Thursday to seek the reversal of a decision to free the WikiLeaks founder on bail, made on Tuesday by a judge at City of Westminster magistrates court who granted Assange a conditional release on £200,000 (about $315,000) bail.

The CPS's formal grounds of appeal for the hearing, seen by the Guardian, will say that Assange must be kept in prison until a decision is made whether to extradite him, which could take months.